Thursday, December 31, 2015

We had another great day of fishing to wrap up a great week and a great year of fishing here at Amelia Island. Jeff Wood, his girlfriend Virginia and her son Will fished with me this morning, meeting me down at the Atlantic Seafood dock on the very first of an incoming tide. There was just enough breeze to keep the no-see-ums off as we pulled in to our first spot. There were ideal conditions with the tide creeping in and all three anglers were soon pitching 1/4oz jigs with shrimp or mud minnows to the bank. It was not a "fast and furious" kind of morning but it was packed with quality fish when they bit!
Jeff got it started when he hooked up and landed a nice keeper sized 18" Black "puppy" Drum (all fish were released today). Then he followed that up with a big Slot sized 22" Redfish. We fished the area thoroughly, working our way thru tons of "baitsealers" then Virgina had a hookup and FISH ON! She played the fish perfectly and after a good battle, landed an even bigger 25" Slot Red. Shortly after that young Will had a good hookup and he too had a big fish on. He worked the big fish patiently to the boat and we netted the biggest Redfish of the day, a nice 26"+ fish. Other than the
baitstealers, the anglers landed four fish and all of them were of keeper size. The wind had picked up so we ran around to Oyster Bay and fished the Tiki hut but had no real bites. Our last stop was around at a grass patch in Lanceford Creek with the tide still coming in. We switched to float rigs and our first cast produced a keeper sized Seatrout that Will landed like a pro. From then on all three anglers were catching fish - a Trout here and a Trout there. They caught about 10 of them and 3-5 of those were keeper size with the biggest being about 18". With that we called it a day (and a year) another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

I had a window of opportunity to fish with some friends, Tim Parker and his brother Brian Knicely this evening so we met at the City marina and ran up Lanceford Creek to fish the first of an outgoing tide. We hit a small grass patch first, tossing shrimp and mud minnows under floats but we had no takers. We then fished some dock pilings and picked up one small but feisty Redfish. We had one more strong bite that broke us off in the pilings but after that there were no more real bites, even though the tide was getting
down and conditions were ideal. We made a run around to Tiger Island and with the logs exposed we again worked the jigs. Tim struck first when he put a keeper sized Trout in the boat. He also landed a couple of small but fun to catch Flounder then it was like someone turned a light switch on - BOOM, FISH ON! BOOM, FISH ON! BOOM, FISH ON! We caught fish after fish. Sometimes it would be a big Slot Redfish and sometimes a nice keeper sized Seatrout. We ended up with 5 Slot sized Reds, threw back a good handful of smaller ones, and had 5 keeper sized
Seatrout and a bull Whiting. Brian added a small Black "puppy" Drum to round out an Amelia Island Back Country Grande Slam and a great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

We've had excellent weather this week and that included today -just a few clouds, a slight breeze and balmy temperatures. I had met Tripp Miller, his fiancé Carla and his daughters Kaylee and Lila down at the City marina and we headed up to Eagans Creek to fish the first of an incoming tide with jigs and live shrimp and mud minnows. It didn't take long for Kaylee to "knock the skunk off" when she landed a nice Seatrout. From then on it was some steady fish catching. Carla was taking pictures as the other three anglers boated fish. Both Tripp and Kaylee put Slot Redfish in the boat
with three of them measuring at 23", 22" and 22" with a total of 5 Slot Reds caught along with a good handful of smaller ones. Lila seemed to have the hot hand at catching Seatrout with her "down, up" fishing technique and she put at least three of them in the boat. We fished over at Tiger Island and although things were slower, Tripp hooked up with a big Redfish and landed it with ease - another Slot sized 25" Redfish, the biggest of the day! We toured Cumberland Island and saw a large herd of horses, eased by Fort Clinch and wrapped up the trip at Old Town to make it another great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

I fished with Jesse Tanner and his family, splitting a 3/4 day trip to get 3 of the family out early then another 3 out for the 2nd stage of the trip. Jesse, Steve and Davis met me early at the City boat ramp and we headed up to Egans Creek to fish some dock pilings as the tide came in. It took a few casts with jigs and shrimp but eventually the trio began to catch fish. Jesse knocked the skunk off when he put a feisty Redfish in the boat then Steve followed it up with a nice Slot 22" Redfish (all fish were released today). They had a couple
more of strong hookups with one of them ripping drag and breaking itself off in the pilings. Our next stop was around at Tiger Island and things heated up. Both Steve and Jesse put some nice keeper sized Seatrout in the boat and a couple of keeper sized Flounder to round out a double Amelia Island Back Country Slam. Davis had had some good bites, picked up a small Trout then his perseverance paid off when he put a nice keeper sized Trout, one of the biggest of the morning. We dropped off this crew then picked up the 2nd set of anglers - Denny, Rowan and Allison. We needed to replenish our bait and after that we cruised over to the outside of Tiger and set up over some flooded oyster beds. Dennis picked up a keeper sized Trout right off and later Rowan got her first fish, an hungry Trout. Allison had a few bites but no takers so she called for a Mud Minnow to try. When she yelled, "FISH ON" I thought for sure she had hung up in some oysters but she said it was pulling back! Sure enough, BIG FISH ON! She played the fish perfectly, fighting it from starboard to port off the stern of the boat and after a good battle, landed a big 25" Slot Redfish, the biggest of the day! We fished the area thoroughly picked up another Trout or two, then crossed over to fish a creek mouth. Both Allison and Denny caught Trout, Denny's on a jig and shrimp down deep. We fished Tiger Island and picked one more Trout, fished an oyster bed over in Bell River, then headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters.

Monday, December 28, 2015

I finished my day up by doing a 2 hour boat ride and tour with the Kenneth Peck party, meeting them At the Oyster Bay dock and then touring north of the Island. We made stops at Old Town, the Pogey Plant, Fort Clinch and then crossed over to see some wild horses on the south end of Cumberland Island, Georgia. We then cruised up into Beach Creek and found that their were horses inland, too. We saw cranes and egrets and ospreys during the trip. I had some left over bait from my morning fishing trip and I thought we might tuck in behind Tiger to get out of the wind that had picked up and do some fishing...but there were 4-5 boats back there doing the same thing! So we ran over to Eagans Creek, and eased thru until we found a likely dock to fish. Young Lori did a great job casting and after a few minutes she had a strong hookup and, FISH ON! She played the feisty fish perfectly and after a good battle landed a nice Redfish - her first ever fish! I thought that was a great way to wrap up a day of fishing but when we got back to the dock Kenneth made it even better by presenting me with a neat sign that his company produces - American Made! See Altogether American for more fine products.

With the Christmas holiday in our rear view mirror, we were able to get back to some fishing here at Amelia Island. I met Todd Standley and his two sons Linus and Xander down at the City boat ramp early this morning and we headed up the river to fish Tiger Island as the tide came in. There were still some logs showing and I think it was our first cast when Linus reeled in a hungry, keeper sized Seatrout. That's the way to start a fishing trip! We fished the area, up and down and both Todd and Linus put a few more Trout in the
boat. Then Linus had a strong hookup and BOOM! Fish on! He played the big fish perfectly and kept the pressure light when it got back into the current. After a good battle he landed a nice 25" Slot Redfish. Later, Xander had a good bite and he too had a fish on. He played the fish all the way to the boat and then did a "quick release" of a nice keeper sized Flounder. Then Linus add a Flounder of his own to round out his very own Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Seatrout, Redfish, and Flounder. The tide had gotten up so we fished the outside of Tiger and here Todd put a couple of more Trout in the boat using a float rig and live shrimp. Our next couple of spots produce no fish and when the wind picked up we finished the day over in Eagans Creek where Linus wrapped the day with another Flounder. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

It was a somewhat gloomy morning that greeted us at the boat ramp with a few raindrops falling as I launched the boat. A thin fog was settled on the water but there was almost no winds to deal with. I had met the Alfrey family down at the City marina - Adam Alfrey, his wife Olivia and 5 year old daughter Olivia and tagging along was Granddad Bill for the fishing trip. We headed up river to fish Eagans Creek on the first of an outgoing tide and our first stop at a clump of marsh grass produced no bites on live shrimp under float rigs. Unless of course you count the No-See-Ums who attacked us
from the start. But we were ready with bug spray and young Olivia modeled a face net and this did the trick. Our next stop was at an old dock where we switched to jigs and shrimp and it was almost immediate for the anglers to begin catching fish. Grandad Bill "knocked the skunk off" when he landed a nice 20"+ Slot Redfish then it was BOOM! Fish on! BOOM! Fish on! BOOM! Fish on. There were smaller 17" "feisty Redfish" and then they'd get a stronger bite which took a while to work in, but they were patient and ended up landing at least 8 Slot Sized Redfish with a 24" one
that Olivia caught being the biggest. Rose Marie helped reel in a few of them and then she took over the role as "netgirl" to help land the fish. Just when we thought things were going to slow down the Black "puppy" Drum started biting. After putting two smaller ones in the boat they landed two nice keeper sized fish, the biggest being about 18". We wrapped it up at this spot after Oliva landed a small Stingray. Our next stop was up Bell River at some now exposed oyster beds and although the bite had slowed, Bill did hookup and land another Slot Redfish. Our last stop was around at Tiger Island and again, a slow bite, but then Adam had a good hookup, and FISH ON! He played the big Redfish patiently and a after a good battle landed the group's 10th Slot Redfish of the day. Bill made it an Amelia Island Grande Slam when he landed a keeper sized Seatrout. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Saturday, December 19, 2015

When I checked the weather report last night I saw that that we'd be battling the wind today but it'd be nice, sunny and clear. I forgot to look at the temperature though, so when I stepped outside I realized I better head back in and get some back up jackets, and boy I'm glad I did! I met Jason Lane, his son Robbie, his father-in-law Tommy and brother-in-law Chad down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp and luckily all of us had some cold weather gear on as the temperature was hovering just over 40 and the wind was blowing 12-15mph. But we were all in for some fishing so we headed up the Amelia River and then tucked in to Jackstaff to fish an exposed oyster bank on the last of an outgoing tide with jigs and shrimp. These anglers were making excellent casts (and into the wind) but we had no real bites after fishing a good stretch so we headed over to Seymore's Pointe to fish some docks and this did the trick. After fishing for just a little while Jason "knocked the skunk off" the boat when he landed a hard fighting keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum. There must have been a school down there because they all began to haul in fish. Young Robbie hooked up and played his share of fish, casting and reeling in a few of his own. I think Tommy had the biggest one, a 20"er and he and Chad had a double on at one time. Then Chad spiced it up by landing a fat keeper sized Seatrout. They put a good "mess" in the boat then we ran down to Broward Island to fish the still outgoing tide. They were getting nibbles here and there when Jason had a strong bite and, FISH ON! This was a big one! He played the big fish perfectly with his light Fenwick HMG 6'6" rod, battling the fish smoothly with the Stradic 1000FJ and 10lb braid. He worked it out from the bank then it went deep and into the current but Jason kept the pressure on and landed a big 25.5" Slot sized Redfish, boy what a fish! We worked the area up and down and Chad completed a personal Slam when he put a keeper sized Sheepshead in the boat. Our last stop was back at Seymore's Pointe where Jason wrapped things up when he caught another Slot Redfish, this one on a float rig and live shrimp. It was cold and windy but the day turned out to be another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Thursday, December 17, 2015

We had a low tide that had just started back in when I met Brian Cochran and his friend Phillip down at the Altantic Seafood dock today. There was just a slight breeze and overcast skies as we headed north to fish Tiger Island with jigs and live (kinda) shrimp. It was somewhat slow fishing although both anglers had a couple of good bites, fish on for a while, then off. Ouch. But they persevered and when Brian had a strong hookup we knew it was a nice fish as it bulled its way deep and fought to keep from coming to the surface. But Brian kept the pressure on and after a good battle
landed a nice 22" Black "puppy" Drum. Shortly after that Phillip put a keeper sized Seatrout in the boat. We had one or two more Trout here then ran around to the Jolley River to fish the now covered oysters with float rigs and live shrimp. The wind had picked up which made for some difficult fishing - and the fish didn't cooperate, so we continued further around and into the Bell River to fish some docks. It was almost immediately that we had hookups with hungry Trout (back to fishing the jigs) and we had one on a jig and grub, white with red tail. Our last stop was back near the marina where Phillip caught a small Flounder to round out the duo's Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Drum, Seatrout, and Flounder. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

We had a third day in a row of picture perfect weather today. I had met Shane Ward and his buddy Doug down at the City marina and after running north we made our first stop outside of Tiger Island with a high and still incoming tide. The two anglers were tossing float rigs with live shrimp up near the grass and the water was like glass! Although they had a couple of nibbles their were no takers so we ran through Tiger and around to Bell River to try the same tactic again. Here, both anglers found some Seatrout and we had a good flurry of fish catching. When it slowed down we ran back through Tiger and again to the outside where we set up at the mouth of a large marsh runout on the first of the outgoing tide, and again, picked up a few Trout. We fished the Jolley River with no real results then finished up over it Bell River, fishing some docks with jigs and shrimp. Both Shane and Doug found some Trout down deep and caught a good handful which was a great way to wrap up a beautiful day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Friday, December 11, 2015

Count it as another beautiful day to be out on the water today, and with no real wind it was great day to be casting a fly. I had Mark Thibodeau set up to fish today out of Atlantic Seafood and our first stop was at some exposed oysters up Bell River on a tide that was still going out. Mark was tossing a shrimp pattern with an 8w rod and worked the oyster bed thoroughly with excellent, pin point casts. It was a spectacular site with some serious potential but he had no takers. We made the run further up Bell and fished some docks before working our way around and into the Jolley River.
Mark fished the MOA spot and worked the oysters outside of Snook Creek, but again no takers. If the weather hadn't have been so good I'd have gotten discouraged! But our last stop was behind Tiger Island and with Mark fishing a weedless black fly he finally "knocked the skunk off" when he hooked up and expertly landed a nice 18" Slot Redfish. We worked up and down the island and the neat thing about the fly was that it rarely hung up and Mark was able to toss it up and in between the logs and stumps. He picked up a handful more of the Redfish before we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Thursday, December 10, 2015

The weather forecast this morning was predicted to be a "10" and they nailed it - a outstandingly beautiful day - sunshine, mild temperatures, and just a slight breeze. I had met Davis's - Ed and Tricia and their daughter Kristen down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp and we made a run up the Amelia River to dip into Jackstaff and fish a high tide that had peaked at 7:30am and had just begun to flow out. The anglers were tossing mud minnows under float rigs and it wasn't long before Kristen "knocked the skunk off"
when she landed a hungry Seatrout. We worked the shoreline slowly and every once in a while they'd get a nibbler then Ed put a nice sized Blue in the boat. We crossed the creek, fished another marsh line, and here they picked up a pretty good handful of "almost keeper sized" Trout. We made the run around to Seymore's Pointe and I think it was one of the first casts when Kristen had a strong bite and FISH ON! She played the fish patiently and after a good battle landed a nice Slot sized Redfish that had 10 spots on it. We had one more good bite there then moved around to fish a dock and here they picked up another small Trout or two. We ran down to Broward Island and both Ed and Kristen picked up a Redfish with Kristin's having another 10 spots on it. Tricia got on the board when she boated a Seatrout and we wrapped up the trip with the anglers landing a handful of Trout. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters.

Sunday, December 6, 2015

With winds blowing at steady at 22mph and with gusts to 30mph, I had to cancel both Friday and Saturday's fishing trips. This morning's wind was forecast at 14mph increasing to about 17 through the day so it was right on the borderline as to whether we wanted to be fishing. But fishing we did and I'm glad of it! I met Bill Lavery and his buddy Joe down at the City marina and we made our first run up Lanceford Creek thinking we'd be out of the wind to fish float rigs and live shrimp on a high and outgoing tide. Even though we were still pushed around by the wind, the fish were
biting. I think it was Joe's first or second cast and he had a hookup, a nice hungry Seatrout. From then on it was fish catching time! Both he and Bill caught fish, Seatrout, one after the other with a couple of them being of keeper size. We fished one dock before the left the area but had no real bites. The wind had worked around from North to coming from the North East so we found a land mass to get behind and this did the trick. The anglers started by catching feisty Redfish, barely undersized, and they occasionally picked up a Seatrout. We moved around somewhat and really got into some fish, picking up another couple of keeper sized fish with Bill landing the biggest. Joe put a small Black "puppy" Drum to round out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam, then made it a "grande" Slam when he caught a handful of Flounder, the biggest being about 16". Then he had a strong hookup and, FISH ON! This fish seemed to come from nowhere and it was BIG! Joe played the fish patiently and after a good battle, landed a "Tournament" Slot Redfish which measured in at 26.5" - boy what a fish! And shortly after that he put another 25.5" Red in the boat. They added a few more fish then we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters.

Thursday, December 3, 2015

"Breezy" is what the weather forcasters call it - 10mph wind, not too bad and still fishable. So that's what me and John Brown and his wife Martha did this morning - went fishing. We met down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and headed up the Nassau River, running all the way to Broward Island to fish the last couple of hours of an outgoing tide. The wind wasn't a factor and the tide was right but the fish weren't cooperating as much as they hoped. John picked up a hungry Seatrout fishing a jig and live shrimp then added a feisty
Redfish to his catch. I'm not sure if we caught any more fish there before we headed back to Seymore's Pointe to fish a dock structure. Here, John caught another Trout or two and Martha got on the board with a feisty Redfish. We worked along some docks and both anglers had a flurry of fish catching, Reds and Trout. Our last stop was at the Nassauville rocks and things heated up nicely fishing float rigs and shrimp. Both John and Martha started hooking up with rather large Mangrove Snapper and boated their limit of keeper sized fish (all fish were released today). We left 'em biting, counting it as another great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

I was finally back to fishing after the Thanksgiving holiday, this time with Jeff Sousa and his father-in-law Chip who I had met down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp this afternoon. It was high tide and about to turn when we headed up the Amelia River to fish the creeks off of Jackstaff with float rigs and live shrimp. I was expecting fish from the start but they didn't cooperate. We had trolled a shoreline for about 75 yards before the two anglers began to get bites (as the tide started out) and they picked up a couple of Bluefish and some hungry Seatrout. We hit another bank and here
they caught a good handful of Trout on the float rigs and also on a jig and shrimp combo that Jeff was tossing. We ran through Jackstaff and fished Seymore's Pointe. Chip put a keeper sized Seatrout in the boat and Jeff landed a nice keeper sized Flounder. We fished Bubblegum Reef, caught a Trout or two, then ran down to Broward Island before the sun went down. Jeff found some Trout out deep then had a somewhat stronger hookup and after a good battle, landed a feisty Redfish to round out his personal Amelia Island Back Country Slam - Trout, Flounder, and Red. We caught more Trout as the sun set and "left 'em biting", counting as a another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.